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The University and Towns
In Brief
Mebane Woman Seen
At Bar Prior to Death
More details are surfacing in the dis
appearance of a Mebane woman whose
body was found off of Interstate 40 in
Orange County last week.
Rhonda Eason, 31, was reported
missing by her husband, Phillip Eason,
on March 27. Eason told police his wife
left, their home at about 8 p.m. March
25., She told him she was leaving to “go
party” but then never returned home.
Lt. Paul Fine of the Alamance
County Sheriffs Department said wit
nesses saw Eason at the Outback Saloon
in Mebane that same evening.
Fine said a cause of death had not yet
been determined because police were
waiting for toxicology results, which
normally takes two weeks. He said that
although police did not know how
Eason died, they could confirm that she
was not shot or stabbed to death.
At this point in the investigation, Fine
said any explanation the sheriffs
department could provide would be
pure speculation because investigators
had not reviewed the toxicology report.
“She could have shacked up with
someone and died of an overdose,” he
said. “That person could have been too
afraid to report it and dumped her body
op .the side of the road.”
Eason’s body was found at about 1
p.m. April 5 by N.C. Department of
Transportation workers near the 260-
mile marker on 1-40.
University Service Day
Scheduled for Saturday
.All interested students and organiza
tions are encouraged to register for
Project UNC: Uniting and Nurturing
our Community.
The first-ever University Day of
Service will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday
and will include a day packed with vol
unteering opportunities and events.
The day will kick off on Polk Place,
with a rain site location at the Great
Hall. Breakfast will be provided.
Those interested should register at
www.unc.edu/cps. For more informa
tion, e-mail punc@unc.edu.
UNC Safety Board
Studies Data, Reports
Pedestrian Safety Committee members
gathered Wednesday to discuss future
implementations on campus concerning
pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
Led by Public Safety Director Derek
Poarch, committee members outlined
their strategic principles for the semes
ter and analyzed problem areas, fund
ing issues and engineering projects that
would enhance safety measures.
The committee was joined by Anna
Wu of Facilities Planning, who dis
played a map of UNC’s Master Plan in
relation to improved safety proposals.
Wu said the Master Plan proposed
pedestrian bridges connecting buildings
on, campus, including one from the
Strident Union to the Student
Recreation Center.
Toarch said the committee agreed
safety awareness was the most crucial
step in moving forward.
Bob Schneider, of the Highway
Research Center, presented in-depth
data about pedestrian and bicyclist acci
dents in Chapel Hill and on campus.
jPoarch said the committee hoped to
drjift a final report with proposals and
a -preamble to present to interim
Chancellor Bill McCoy by June.
Workshop for Teens
To Teach Writing Skills
The Hot Ink writing workshops are
sponsored by the North Carolina
Writers’ Network and are offered to
in eighth through 12th grades
at CINC this summer.
tfeenagers will have the opportunity
to work with some of the most accom
plished writers in the Research Triangle
Park area. The writers will work with
various styles such as poetry and cre
ative nonfiction writing.
The workshop will be from July 17 to
July 21. The cost is $125 a session and
$225 for both. To register to receive
additional information, call 967-9540.
Towne Center to Hold
Special Olympics Event
The Cary Towne Center is holding
the Special Olympics North Carolina
Volunteer Recruitment Extravaganza
thjs Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at
the Hecht’s Court.
The Bouncing Bulldogs, N.C. State
University Cheerleaders and Dance
Team and the “One Heart Trio” will be
performing along with several others.
;The 2000 Special Olympics North
Carolina Summer Games will be held
in Raleigh from June 2 to June 4.
L From Staff Report
Anonymous Gift Honors Hooker
Bv Alexandra Molaire
Assistant University Editor
A $1 million endowed professorship
created by an anonymous Raleigh cou
ple will honor the late Chancellor
Michael Hooker.
The Michael Hooker Distinguished
Professorship in Biology was set up this
month and is aimed at professors inter
NRC Study Targets
County Concerns
Bv Walter Herz
Staff Writer
Orange County officials claim that a
new study by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission confirms security concerns
with the proposed expansion of a local
nuclear facility.
A county press release issued
Monday stated that the agency had
identified several risks associated with
spent fuel pool storage, a method used
by the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power
Plant in Wake County.
The release is the latest installment in
an 18-month dispute between Carolina
Power & Light Cos., owner of the nuclear
power plant, and Orange County.
In June 1998, CP&L proposed to
increase its waste fuel storage capacity at
Shearon Harris, making it the largest
storage facility east of the Mississippi.
Orange County officials, concerned
that a potential storage leak would have
serious environmental consequences,
asked the agency to intervene to per
form an investigation of the plant.
Orange County Engineer Paul
Thames said the study bolstered the
county’s argument against a proposed
expansion of the nuclear power plant’s
waste storage units.
“The county has always contended
that there are some unevaluated risks
associated with this kind of long-term
Coalition Expands, Focuses Tuition Hike Battle
Bv Geoff Wessel
Staff Writer
UNC-Chapel Hill students opposed
to potential increases in the cost of
tuition are expanding their connections
with other UNC-system schools in their
campaign to keep education affordable.
The Coalition for Educational Access,
a subgroup of the Progressive Coalition,
has prepared to fight the increase in the
state legislature since February, when
the Board of Governors approved a pro
posal that would raise tuition at UNC
CH by S6OO over two years.
The coalition is now ready to draft a
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Professor Herman Towles uses a bank of cameras pointed at a mannequin to construct a three-dimensional
representation in real time. The cameras will use the light and dark pattern in front of the mannequin
to calculate 3-D position. This system is used for applications such as 3-D video conferencing.
( N.C. Universities
j Search for State
j Research Funding
I See Page 10
ested in
genomics, a
field of genetic
research, said
Speed
Hallman, the
director of development communica
tions.
Hallman said the couple, which has
close ties to the University, was
storage,” he said.
CP&L spokesman Mike Hughes said
the study did not apply in this case.
“This was a generic study of decom
missioned plants, not of Shearon
Harris,” he said. “It has no relevance in
our situation.”
Hughes explained that decommis
sioned facilities were those no longer in
use or in the process of being shut down.
He said there were fundamental differ
ences between such facilities and work
ing plants like Shearon Harris.
Jim Warren, director of the N.C.
Waste Awareness and Reduction
Network, an environmental watch
group, said the study was highly rele
vant to the ongoing struggle between
CP&L and Orange County.
“The concerns are actually greater
with a working reactor right next to the
pools,” he said. “However, it is pre
dictable that CP&L would try to do
everything to say the study doesn’t
apply.”
NRC spokesman Roger Hannah
admitted that the study did not strictly
apply to the Wake County facility. He
said it was released on a public level and
was not meant to directly shed new light
on the ensuing conflict between CP&L
and Orange County.
Warren questioned the agency’s
See STUDY, Page 10
constitution and to go to other campus
es, said member and former student
body president candidate Erica Smiley.
“After (the proposed increase) went to
the BOG, it was a domino effect,” she
said, referring to other schools in the sys
tem that began drafting tuition plans in
the wake of UNC-CH’s efforts. “With
our main goal being educational access
for all, we’re talking about all students in
our state.”
The coalition has held meetings with
N.C. Central University, Winston-Salem
State University and N.C. State
University, and eventually hopes to
unite all 16 schools, members said.
BIG DUMMY
News
impressed with Hooker and agreed with
his vision for the University.
“Chancellor Hooker saw genomics as
an emerging field in science, and he.
wanted Carolina to be at the forefront of
this discipline,” he said. “It’s also key to
unlocking secrets that can lead to better
healthcare and better quality of life.”
The donors will pay $666,000 over
five years, and the N.C. Distinguished
SENIORS SIGN OFF
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DTHAICTORIA ECKENRODE
Shane Page, right, of Gastonia and Erin Petty of Washington, D.C., sign
their names on the post of the Bell Tower on Wednesday. The two
seniors climbed to the top of the Bell Tower, taking advantage
of one of the many scheduled activities held during Senior Week.
“We’re building this into a statewide
movement,” said member Michal
Osterweil. “We don’t have a paid lob
byist, but we’re doing the job that a paid
lobbyist would do to ensure that the leg
islature has someone advocating for stu
dents and, ultimately, for the citizens of
North Carolina.”
Osterweil said the coalition expected
the tuition increase to pass the legisla
ture but said the group did not plan to
abandon its efforts.
“It’s a really exciting moment,” she
said. “We’re making a constitution and a
statement of our principles, which are to
keep education accessible in this state."
Professors Endowment Trust Fund will
match the gift with a $334,000 grant.
When the endowment accumulates
$1 million, a portion will be used to hire
and pay the first Michael Hooker
Distinguished Professor of Biology,
Hallman said.
“Funds like this help us attract out-
See HOOKER, Page 10
“We’re looking for students to get
involved.”
Provost Dick Richardson said the
coalition was justified in trying to raise
awareness about the issue as long as it
presented its case fairly.
“I certainly think they’re well within
their rights to oppose tuition increases
and to try to convince other people to
come along with them. But I disagree
with their position. We’ve tried to be
extraordinarily sensitive to ensure the
tuition increase will not limit access.”
He said UNC-CH’s proposed increase
included plans to earmark 30 percent of
the generated funds for financial aid.
Colleges Consider
Rank-Based Entry
By Lani Harac
Staff Writer
A movement among several univer
sities to institute class-rank admissions
policies is gathering steam, but a UNC
official says the University will not join
the trend anytime
soon.
Rank-based
programs have
been touted as a
way to increase
minority enroll
ment at state uni
versities, but
Campus
Connection
opponents - including those at UNC -
argue that the number of minority stu
dents would not necessarily increase
under a blanket admissions policy.
The Pennsylvania State System of
Higher Education is the latest in the
nation to consider implementing a pol
icy that would guarantee admission to
system schools to the top 15 percent of
each high school class in the state.
According to an article in the April 7
Chronicle of Higher Education,
Pennsylvania’s SSHE would adopt the
plan to augment its affirmative-action
admissions policies.
Pennsylvania’s SSHE is comprised of
14 schools, including Bloomsburg,
Edinboro and Slippery Rock universi
ties of Pennsylvania.
UNC’s peer schools in the state, such
as Pennsylvania State University,
Temple University and the Llniversity of
Pittsburgh, are part of a different system
of state-related institutions and would
not be included under the new plan.
Thursday, April 13, 2000
Residents
Question
Quarry
Locals are concerned about
how an expansion of the
OWASA water quarry would
affect nearby homes.
By Kathleen Wirth
Staff Writer
Amid shouts of “Amen” and
“Hallelujah," angry residents spoke out
Wednesday night against a proposal by
the Orange Water and Sewer Authority
to expand its 10-acre water quarry.
OWASA is seeking approval from
local officials to expand its water capac
ity to 3 billion gallons in anticipation of
increased demand for water over the
next 50 years.
The site, located east of Bethel-
Hickory Grove Church Road and just
west of Carrboro, lies near a residential
community.
At the hearing, area critics of the
expansion plans expressed concerns
over structural damage incurred from
excavation blasts, excessive noise from
crushing stone and depressed property
values.
Elliot Kramer, a retired UNC statis
tics professor and area resident, said he
questioned the validity of OWASA’s
water demand estimates that predict a 9
million gallon a day increase over the
next 50 years.
“OWASA has substantially overesti
mated future water demand,” he said.
“There is no justification for a quarry
expansion.”
Peter Gordon, chairman of the board
of directors for OWASA, stressed that
the projected water use was only an esti
mate.
He also said the county needed to be
prepared for increased water demand
that would occur sometime in the next
50 years.
“While no one can say exactly how
See QUARRY, Page 10
Smiley said the coalition would lobby
legislators to stop the BOG proposal
from being implemented but would sup
port increasing financial aid regardless
of the proposal’s success.
A proposed $36.8 million financial
aid proposal would be the first state
based source of financial aid if approved
by the legislature.
“We’re still trying to kill the tuition
increase, which is still possible,” Smiley
said. “Even if they kill the tuition
increase, we’d like this financial aid.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
Admissions policy discussions in
Pennsylvania come on the heels of the
adoption of a similar plan in California.
On March 19, the University of
California Board of Regents approved a
plan resulting in the automatic accep
tance of the top 4 percent of students
from each California high school.
“It’s in the implementation stage right
now,” said UC-system spokesman Terry
Lightfoot. “Probably the first class to be
admitted will be the one applying in Fall
2000. We are moving in that direction,
but the program is not in place yet.”
Lightfoot said the majority of stu
dents would still be accepted under a
general admissions process, but the new
policy would provide an additional way
to increase minority enrollment
Raising the number of enrolled
minorities was also the impetus behind
the adoption of a class-rank admissions
policy in the University of Texas system.
UT spokesman Montyjones said the
system’s program, which was adopted
after affirmative-action admissions poli
cies were overturned, had been in place
for two to three years.
“Each individual institution (in Texas)
had its own policy, and most institutions
had some type of affirmative action pro
gram,” Jones said.
Texas has 35 public institutions total;
the UT-system comprises 15 of them.
The sth U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals overturned all affirmative
action programs several years ago, Jones
said, and die state legislature worked to
find an alternative that would encourage
See ADMISSIONS, Page 10
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